


The Spark

by Mx_Jay



Category: Superman (Christopher Reeve Movies), Superman (Comics), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Coronavirus, Depression, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Grocery Shopping, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Superheroes, Superman saves the day, Tags Are Hard, all relevant superman, as in the ones that are kind and do not kill, bruce wayne mention - Freeform, covid-19 mention, disease mention, martian manhunter makes a cameo, mentions of quarantine, the beginning and middle are sad, trust me it is a happy ending, when i am not tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24451846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mx_Jay/pseuds/Mx_Jay
Summary: Covid-19 rages in Metropolis, and someone gives into despair. Luckily, Superman is there to help them pick up the pieces. Triggers include suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, covid/coronavirus, and quarantine. It has a happy ending though.
Kudos: 2





	The Spark

It was a beautiful night in Metropolis, and down below the rooftop I was standing on, disease raged. Metropolis was a densely packed city, home to more than 10 million people. As heartbreaking as it was, it made sense that Covid-19 wouldn’t have any trouble sweeping through the city. I stood there, cup of black tea in hand. Ever since I had been laid off from my job as a thrift shop clerk, my sleep schedule had gone to hell. I was still living with my parents in the apartment complex, so at least I wasn’t at risk for homelessness. Yet. I stared at the blinking lights of city buildings. If I focused on the office building a few blocks away, I could just make out the empty offices. A few months ago, this city was humming with life, and the chatter of people could be heard. Now, it was silent, and getting emptier by the day. Up above, the sky twinkled with more stars than usual.

There was less pollution now that no one was commuting; it was one of the few bonuses that came with isolation. The tea I was sipping at was one I had bought at the Charles Dickens Fair last year. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but the combined heat from my mug and warm memories kept me from feeling too cold. Though I tried not to think about it, my mind focused on all the things I wouldn’t be able to do. My summer plans to go to Los Angeles were gone, along with the lighthouse bed and breakfast trip I was going to take in August. I wondered what Halloween and Christmas would look like, and before I knew it, my eyes started to water. My mother hadn’t been of too much help lately, and she wasn’t offering comfort that I sorely needed. She would say, “Everyone is struggling right now.” and I would say, “Yes, but that doesn’t invalidate how I am feeling.” she would roll her eyes and sigh. There was bitterness in my heart that I had hidden from for too long. Everything sucked and it didn’t look like it was getting better any time soon. Roof access was surprisingly easy to get, the top hatch wasn’t even locked, probably because there was a maintenance man up here a few hours ago.

There were darker thoughts that were passing by that I tried the hardest to ignore. Superman couldn’t be everywhere, after all. Surely… I could just… fall off the building, and make it look like an accident. The building was at least seven stories tall, surely that would be enough. I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts, but nothing changed. Control of my emotions was surrendered to the pain, and I walked towards the edge, leaving my tea behind. Everything felt awful, and without an end in sight, the darkness I tried to keep at bay swarmed over me. There wasn’t any hope left. The edge was about four feet away, and I was just able to see over the top of the building. I was alone, and now there was no shame in crying. Suddenly, there was a WHOOSH, and I heard the sound of crunching gravel on the rooftop. I whipped around to see Superman standing there, looking concerned. I froze, not sure what to do next. I took a few steps back from the ledge, not looking him in the eye. “I… I just had a lapse of judgement, that’s all. It won’t happen again.” 

Superman sighed, looking concerned. “Your heart rate changed when you said that.”

“So?”

“You weren’t telling the truth.”

There was a moment of silence. “I suppose I wasn’t, sorry.” It was really hard to lie to him twice in a row, after all. I held my head high, looking at those brilliant blue eyes. “You don’t have to worry about me, Superman. I think you might have more important things to do, like delivering food or helping scientists develop a vaccine.” He looked surprised. “The Justice League has divided into teams to help with food delivery, and…” Here he paused, not sure how much to divulge. “Bruce Wayne has donated a lot of money to research. Those things can be handled without me. You, however, look like you need some help.” I shook my head. “There’s nothing to be done. The world is going through a slow apocalypse. Everyone’s emotions are running high, so…” I shrugged, then wrapped my arms around myself. “Everyone feels bad about this, so my feelings on the subject aren’t exactly new, or important.” Superman took a few steps closer to me, and I glared at him. “Social distancing, remember? You need to stay six feet away.” 

He paused, uncertain, before approaching again. “I am not at risk for getting sick, and I can disinfect myself despite the lack of hand sanitizer and alcohol wipes.” He was within grabbing distance, and I backed away closer to the ledge. “How? Everyone’s struggling for supplies.”

“Every time I need to disinfect myself, I just take a dip in lava, or dip my hands in molten metal. It doesn’t hurt me, and the high temperature kills germs.” 

I stared at him, not sure whether he was joking. “Are you serious?” I asked in between giggles. I couldn’t help it, despite the tenseness of the situation, I began to laugh. He smiled too, and it was wonderful. At the moment, I couldn’t help but notice the way he looked. Everyone had seen news reports of him lifting planes and stopping trains from crashing. But at the moment he didn’t look all-powerful and tough. His gaze was soft, yet steady. He still looked strong, but it was tempered with gentleness. There was no physical fight to have here, just a battle of someone’s emotional problems. I made up my mind, walked towards him, and the tension eased a little. I opened my mouth a little, but I wasn’t sure what to say.

At last, I managed with a shuddering breath, “It’s been a rough couple of weeks. My parents have struggled to pay the bills, and-” My stomach growled, and the tears welled up in my eyes, and my embarrassment welled up too. “Everyone is too afraid to go to the grocery store. I haven’t had a decent meal in a while. We have a few expired cans of chili left, but…” I scrunched up my nose, and Superman grimaced with empathy. “Quarantine has been a disaster for my mental health. I haven’t seen any of my friends in forever, and every day I worry about my parents getting sick. As does everyone else. I didn’t come up here with the intention of jumping off, honestly, I just wanted a break from the same rooms over and over and I guess I just lost control for a bit and-” I started to cry in earnest.

“I’m so tired, Superman. I don’t have the strength to hold on for much longer and it’s so hard but other people have it worse, I know-” And then he pulled me into a hug. He was warm to the touch, and I could feel some of the strength he struggled to hold back. It was the first hug I'd had in over eight weeks. I was failing to choke back sobs. “Please don’t let go. For the love of god, don’t disappear on me.” I whimpered. He held me tighter, and I slumped against him. It wasn’t even a remote challenge for him to support my weight against his body. The texture of his suit felt odd, like a plastic/leather combination with ridges. The man was able to bench press a bus, yet I had never felt more secure in my life. A few moments passed, then he pulled away. I tried not to grumble about the loss of contact. He stared into my eyes, still looking concerned. “Just because everyone is feeling the same way, doesn’t mean what you are going through doesn’t count.” He grabbed me by the shoulders, and I said nothing.

“Your experiences and pain are justified, even if people say otherwise. I won’t tell you to be grateful for the things you have or that things will get better, because that would be condescending. I won’t tell you how you should feel either, because it wouldn’t be right for me to tell you what to do. I can’t even pretend to know what’s going through your head right now. But I want you to know, I am here if you need me.” I sniffled and nodded to let him know that I was hearing what he was saying. I still felt terrible, but by the end of what he was saying I felt a little lighter than I had for the first time in months. He put his hand on my back and guided me away from the ledge. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do now, all of my problems still remained. Superman had helped, but I still had a lot of things to deal with.

Superman looked down at me once more when we were in the middle of the roof. “Can you stay here or in your apartment for a few minutes? I’ll be right back with something special.” I shrugged, then made a promise to not go anywhere. Close to the speed of sound, Superman took off from the building and was out of sight. About five minutes later, when the chill was finally starting to sink in, he came back and touched on the rooftop with surprising gentleness. He handed me a warm mug and the scent of hot chocolate filled the air. I looked at him in confusion. He explained, “Back home, my family has hot chocolate this time of night. I figured you could use a cup.” I stared at him, not quite sure whether or not to laugh. I settled on a smile, and with a nod of thanks I took a sip.

It. Was. Gorgeous. It was still warm, despite the speed at which Superman must have been flying. It was rich and thick and I swear there was a hint of caramel to compliment the chocolate flavor. It was made with real milk instead of water, and it wasn’t made from the powdered kind. It was real melted chocolate. “This is amazing stuff.” Superman smiled and put a hand on my shoulder. His hand was strong and warm. “It’s an old recipe my ma likes to use.” I took a seat on the roof, despite the uncomfortable gravel and marks I knew would be on my legs later. After a moment's hesitation, Superman sat beside me, and we stared at each other for a moment. “So now what?” I asked. “I mean, what do I do now that I’ve made the choice to… not go through with it?” Superman looked thoughtful, gazing off into the distance. “That’s up to you. I wouldn’t recommend you go to a hospital; they are understaffed and there’s too many patients. Until the numbers go down, you shouldn’t be checked in.” I took another sip of the hot chocolate, relishing the taste. “I was thinking more of what’s happening right now. Staying on the roof for more than a few hours doesn’t exactly seem like the best idea. Also, you straight up saved my life, and I’m not sure how to respond to that. I assumed-”

“That I was too busy to help?”

“That you wouldn’t see me if I fell. There are billions of people on the planet, thousands of cities to defend, and with the damned plague going on, I assumed no one would notice.”

He looked sad, though I wasn’t trying to make him upset. I stared down into the hot chocolate. Suddenly, it didn’t taste quite so good. My self-pity was hanging in the air, and I’m sure I just made him uncomfortable. But then he said, “Even if I hadn’t been here, someone would have noticed. Your friends, your family…” He trailed off. “That isn’t necessarily what I meant.” I replied. “I mean, heroes can’t be perfect all the time. I thought I would just fall through the cracks.” Suddenly, the Martian Manhunter was floating near the rooftop. “I sensed great emotional pain coming from this rooftop. Is everything alright?” I froze in surprise. I had no idea other members of the Justice League were nearby. Without thinking about it, I waved and said hello. Despite my earlier depression, I couldn’t help but think of how COOL it was that I was meeting two superheroes in one night. You can’t blame me for that, can you? The green alien lifted an eyebrow. “I see.” was all he said, then he floated off into the night. 

Superman turned to me and said, “You weren’t quite at the edge when I stopped you. I get the feeling that if I wasn’t around, someone else would have come to your aid in time. That’s how a good society functions. We all look after each other, and make sure no one falls into the darkness without a fight.” I stared at him incredulously. “Surely you planned for that to happen.” I said. He shook his head with a smile. “I knew other members were on patrol in Metropolis tonight, nothing else. And even if none of us were here, I am sure you would have hesitated long enough so that someone would call the firemen and the paramedics. Good people look after their own, and I believe people can make the right choices and choose to be better.” I took another mouthful of hot chocolate and thought about what he said. “I don’t know if I can believe that, but seeing what you’ve done for me tonight, I think I want to.” He nodded and said. “That’s a good start. If you walk down to your apartment, I'll see that you get some groceries. I think even I would have trouble stomaching expired chili from a can.” I laughed, thanked him, drained my mug, and waved goodbye to him. I stayed just long enough to watch him take off into the beautiful, starry night. 

A few hours later, as I was preparing for bed, there was a knock at the door. I opened it, but there was no one there. Casting my eyes around, I spotted several paper bags with groceries inside. At the top was a letter. I settled the groceries in the kitchen, and my parents began to put them away. The bags included wonderful things, raw chicken, fresh vegetables, two loaves of bread, some lunch meat, to name a few of the items. Opening the letter, I began to smile as I scanned the words.

  
  


_I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name, which was a mistake on my part. I hope you will keep yourself safe and as happy as you can. Enjoy these groceries, and a few extra treats to snack on. I hope you will continue to choose to live, and please know that our community will do our best to keep you safe. I’ll sweep by tomorrow night to check up on you and get my mug back._

_Yours, -S_

I smiled and held the letter to my chest. A warm feeling spread through my body, a rising, rushing feeling. For the first time in several weeks, the spark of hope was lit again.

Fin.


End file.
